Home automation control systems have established a growing industry and can be expected to persist as controller devices, programming methods, function concepts, and communication technologies advance in capability and decline in incremental cost to market. Particular functions continue to extend capability of existing products, adding and refining convenience, security, safety, and enjoyment features.
Among potential beneficial improvements in home automation functionality are apparatus and methods capable of providing substantially simultaneous operation of multiple motor-driven devices. Known devices provide incomplete realization of such functionality. For example, barrier positioners that are motorized, can exhibit varying condition of operation as a consequence of manufacturing tolerances, age, wear, bearing condition, battery state, and other factors. A home automation controller that relies on previous designs to command several barrier positioners simultaneously to first start, then run, then stop in a uniform fashion is unlikely to perform these functions consistently over product life. The consequences of uncertain start delay, nonuniform run speed, and variable response to stop commands include uneven appearance after stopping except at ends of travel (i.e., full up and full down positions), undesirable at least in a high-end consumer product.
What is needed is an apparatus or method that can ensure highly uniform action of multiple, separately-installed actuator devices at least in a home automation environment.